Volume 1, Chapter 66 – In the End, They Still Caught Me (Part 1)

Qi Huang glanced at the government office, then turned her head to look at the five stunningly beautiful fairy maidens beside her, all grinning with an “evil” expression. Gradually, she began to sweat profusely.

‘Wait a minute! I can’t control that Secretary Yuan, but I can control these fairy maidens. They obey my every word—if I can just find a way to send them away, then I’ll have time to escape!’

A sudden flash of inspiration struck Qi Huang’s mind.

Not daring to delay any longer, she steeled herself and addressed her five “convenient” senior sisters.

“Senior sisters, actually, before I left, Master gave me a task to pass on to you. There’s been a ghost disturbance in Fenming County next door, and she wants you all to investigate.”

“Huh? But if we leave, who’ll guard this place?”

Shen Yuan immediately grew anxious. Right now, she truly wished she could chop that impostor into pieces.

“I’ll guard it! Don’t worry, I’ll definitely catch that impostor.”

Qi Huang swore an oath—to catch herself.

“Aren’t you coming with us?”

Yun Fei looked puzzled.

“If I go, there’ll be no one left to monitor this place.”

Qi Huang’s reasoning was sound.

“Alright then, be careful on your own.”

“Yeah, who knows how strong that impostor is? If she’s too powerful, don’t try to fight her alone!”

“How about this—if you find her, just follow her secretly. Wait until we return before making a move.”

The senior sisters carefully gave their instructions. Of course, they trusted this “junior sister” completely—except for Yun Fei. A trace of doubt flickered across her delicate face.

“You all be careful too!”

Qi Huang watched her “convenient” senior sisters leave, and for some reason, a pang of guilt rose in her heart.

The reason was simple. After having that dream for so long, and with it growing increasingly vivid, she had subconsciously begun to see these fairy maidens as her real senior sisters.

“Junior Sister, here’s the twenty taels of silver I owe you. I finally have a chance to repay you.”

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Just then, Ruan Lingyu stepped forward and, with her jade-like hand, pulled out another twenty taels of silver from her pocket and handed it over.

The corner of Qi Huang’s rosy lips twitched slightly, as if she were having a stroke.

“Go ahead and laugh if you want! But you have to take these twenty taels. Even though I’ve repaid you twice before, it wasn’t you I gave it to last time.”

Ruan Lingyu, clearly misunderstanding, spoke as if she had nothing left to lose.

Qi Huang didn’t feel like laughing at all. Instead, her guilt multiplied.

“Lingyu Senior Sister, to be honest… if you give me another twenty taels, will you go bankrupt?”

Qi Huang cautiously probed. If the other woman was a wealthy heiress, she might temporarily accept the money to keep up appearances and return it later. But if Ruan Lingyu was on the verge of poverty, there was no way she could take it.

“Pfft—!”

The other senior sisters immediately burst into laughter, their mirth so unrestrained that passersby turned to look.

“Hehe… Junior Sister… she borrowed those twenty taels from us.”

“Yeah, if she had money, she wouldn’t need to borrow from you.”

“ Giggle … I can’t, this is too funny! What kind of airheaded senior sister is this?”

The other fairy maidens couldn’t hold back.

“You… you all promised to keep it a secret!”

Ruan Lingyu flushed red with embarrassment and anger.

“Forget it, Senior Sister! You can give it to me when you have the money later.”

Qi Huang felt a pang of sympathy, ‘What a villain I am—I’ve practically bankrupted this poor fairy maiden.’

‘Should I just return the forty taels to her?’

For a moment, she was tempted. But after some thought, she decided against it—there was no good excuse, and forcing it would only arouse suspicion.

Ruan Lingyu, of course, refused to back down. After a stubborn standoff, she finally gave up, resentful that she couldn’t keep playing the role of the generous benefactor.

And so, the five fairy maidens departed, looking back every few steps, their faces full of reluctance.

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‘Haha! They’ll be gone for at least a few days. Now I finally have time to escape!’

Qi Huang was thrilled. Adjusting her veil, she headed toward the southern gate, planning to escort her father home before making her getaway. With her identity completely exposed, she could no longer stay in Huatian Village.

A short while later, Secretary Yuan sneaked out of the county office and stood on the street, looking around furtively.

“Strange, where did those fairy maidens go?”

After a long search, Secretary Yuan still couldn’t find the people he was looking for.

“These women, disappearing on me at a time like this!”

He grumbled in annoyance before laughing at himself. “Ah, whatever. Not my problem!”

Qi Huang waited anxiously outside the southern gate. Before long, her father emerged.

Huang Kairong, having gone from hell to heaven in an instant, was grinning so hard his facial muscles had stiffened. He greeted everyone he saw, whether he knew them or not.

Seeing that her father was unharmed—though his mental state was questionable—Qi Huang finally felt the heavy stone in her heart lift.

“Daughter-in-law! Where have you been these past ten days? Do you have any idea how worried we were? We thought something terrible had happened to you!”

The moment Huang Kairong saw his “daughter-in-law”, he shouted loudly, as if he wanted to issue an imperial decree announcing to the world that his wife had been lost and found.

“Father! I went home to get my identity tablet.”

Qi Huang answered with a half-truth.

“What? You actually went back? How could you be so reckless?”

Huang Kairong’s face was full of fear as he scrutinized his “daughter-in-law”, afraid she might have lost even a single hair.

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“A delicate woman like you—if you were going back, you should’ve told us! At least let me protect you.”

‘Delicate woman?’

Qi Huang felt extremely awkward hearing her father call her that. But since she had turned into a woman, she decided to just roll with it.

“Father, don’t worry. I went back with a friend.”

“Ah! For our family to have a daughter-in-law like you, we must thank the feng shui masters for choosing our ancestors’ graves well! If you hadn’t arrived in time, I’d have had to go to war in my son’s place.”

Huang Kairong cupped his hands toward the heavens in gratitude. Then, remembering his son, he asked curiously, “By the way, where’s Huang Qi? Didn’t he come with you?”

“He and my father are already home, but there are still some loose ends to tie up. He’ll come in a few days.”

Qi Huang continued lying effortlessly. By now, she was so used to deception that the words flowed without thought.

“That’s good! That’s good!”

Only then did Huang Kairong relax completely.

Not daring to delay any longer, Qi Huang urged her father to return to Huatian Village.

Meanwhile, the five fairy maidens had exited through the northern gate and walked farther and farther away from Ping’an County.

“Is this ghost disturbance in Fenming County even real?”

Miao Xiang asked timidly.

“Who knows? The strongest among us, Senior Sister, is only at the third layer of Body Refinement. None of us have cat’s tears—how are we supposed to see ghosts? What kind of investigation is this? Why would Master assign such a task?”

Shen Yuan also sounded helpless.

“Maybe Master wants to temper us.”

Ruan Lingyu speculated.

“Master might give such a task, but what puzzles me the most is Junior Sister’s attitude.”

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Yun Fei, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke up.

“What attitude?”

Shen Yuan instinctively asked.

“Think about it. We don’t have any cat’s tears left. If we do encounter ghosts, we’ll be in grave danger. Does Junior Sister not realize this? Why would she be so indifferent, just waiting around for that impostor?”

Yun Fei voiced the doubt that had been gnawing at her.

“Now that you mention it, it is strange. Whenever we went on missions before, if we didn’t have cat’s tears, she’d always come along to help. Why is she acting so differently this time? Does catching an impostor mean more to her than our lives?”

Ruan Lingyu pondered.

“No way! Junior Sister was so worried about us getting the scent of Golden Fate Blossoms on us that she guarded against us like thieves. That proves how much we mean to her!”

Miao Xiang immediately protested passionately.

“It seems we all share the same thought. In that case, there’s only one possibility!”

Yun Fei trailed off, her eyes filled with unease.

“You mean… the Junior Sister we just met was… fake?”

Ruan Lingyu caught on immediately.

“That can’t be! We all saw her feet just now. We might not know if they were fragrant, but they were definitely small—exactly the same size as Junior Sister’s. Wasn’t it said that the impostor has big feet?”

Miao Xiang couldn’t believe it.

“In the past, I wouldn’t have doubted it either. But now we know that impostor’s disguise skills are truly masterful. Changing the size of her feet might not be impossible.”

Yun Fei theorized.

“If we want to know whether she’s real or not, it’s simple. Let’s go back and find Secretary Yuan. She just came out of the county office, right? If she’s fake, she must have gone in to register with an identity tablet.”

Ruan Lingyu decisively suggested.

The other sisters agreed. Without delay, they turned their horses around and rushed back to the county at full speed.